Tanner Glass Had Fun, Hints at Rematch in His Blog

By now, you've certainly heard more than enough about the Inaugural Canucks Scrabble Battle. If you recall: a couple weeks back, Tanner Glass and PITB came together for an epic charity Scrabble contest. It was great. The most important thing, of course, is that the event raised $9000 for Canuck Place. The second most important thing? I totally won.

Until yesterday, almost everyone had weighed in on the event, save mulleted runner-up, Tanner Glass. However, Glass finally broke the silence this afternoon, writing about the whole ordeal for his blog at Canucks.com. Let's us take us a look at what he said (and mince words):

The Scrabble Challenge was a huge success and I have to say it was such a great time. I could easily be convinced to play again next year. It was so much fun playing with the help of Jaxson, John, and Kayden from Canuck Place. They were great teammates and they definitely helped me out.

Great time indeed. "I could be easily convinced," he says. Sounds more like "I am clamoring." This is rematch talk, you guys.

I'm not surprised, mind you. I'm the Alex Burrows of Scrabble; I necessitate retaliation. Obviously, next time there will have to be a couple changes: 1) If Tanner gets genius kids in his corner (MENSWEAR, seriously?), I want a genius kid too. Heck, I want the kid from Smart Guy.

In all seriousness, we'll definitely have to do it again, if for no other reason than to unretire the Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champ t-shirts, which sold out so fast it seems like nobody got one. You know a shirt goes quickly when the guy whose likeness graces the front can't get one for his fiancee in her size. That's nuts. Here's Tanner, on the shirts:

We raised nearly $9,000 through donations and T-shirt sales. The t-shirts went pretty quickly and by the time I got in there to buy some, they were sold out of most sizes. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't order more t-shirts for the event and that they aren't selling them anymore. I definitely think we would have raised more money.

We agree wholeheartedly. It's a shame the Canucks didn't print more shirts, but we understand why they didn't. Nobody (save our dedicated readers) could have predicted the shirts would sell out so quickly.

On one hand, it was unfortunate, as a lot of people didn't get shirts, but on the other hand, it's probably a good thing. Better the shirts went immediately than that they didn't go at all. Plus, now the Canucks know that, the next time they partner up with PITB, they need to make a larger order. The shirts will be back.

The guys at Passittobulis were awesome sports. It was quite a competitive game and I must admit I was a little nervous before the game started, especially with everyone crowded around my letters and judging my every move! The mood lightened as the game went on, and it turned out to be a fun-filled special event. And if Harrison hadn't received the best draw of letters in the history of scrabble, I think the game would have ended up differently.

I was nervous too, and I--whoa, hold on a second. Is that trash talk? I think it is.

Let us be clear: I did not receive the best draw in the history of Scrabble. Top ten? Perhaps. The definitive best? There's simply no way of knowing. Scrabble historians are few and far between. But like it would have mattered. I was lucky, but people say you've got to be good to be lucky. Good equals lucky. It stands to reason, then, that: luckiest ever = best ever. Hence, I am the best ever.

And I'm more than willing to back up that fuzzy logic. Consider Tanner's tacit request for a rematch accepted. (#RescrabbleMeTanner).

Not until next season, though. There are more pressing things at hand. But, once the season ends, Skeeter and I will be speaking to Canucks.com about our plans for a second Scrabble battle, which (at least in our heads) includes a bit more fanfare, a lot more money for Canuck Place, a few more competitors, and a lot more Scrabble. Possible glitch? Our friend Tanner's a free agent. If he's not back, we're gonna lose it.

Be sure to read the rest of Tanner Glass's blog, wherein you will learn that Raffi Torres is good at golf. Of course he is. Considering the teams he's been on, he's had a lot of practice.

HNIC Revisits the Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge

I'm sure you're getting a little tired of Canucks Scrabble coverage, but we've had requests for the Subway bio clip featuring Tanner Glass. With that, (and thanks again to the remarkably generous CanucksHD), here's last Saturday's Hockey Night Subway bio, featuring Tanner Glass, PITB, and a brief return to the Canucks' Scrabble challenge. As you can see, HNIC smartly avoided any photos that would feature yours truly, instead opting for candid shots of the extremely photogenic Tanner Glass. I'd have done the same. Wise choice, CBC.

Scott Oake seems confused as to who won, but he's got a decent line on DOUGHIER: I think that's what happens to goaltenders after they quit playing. Likely a shot at Kelly Hrudey, like every other joke he makes. Funny stuff, although I prefer Daniel's line: As in, Harrison is doughier than Tanner Glass. It's funny 'cause it's true.

Canucks TV: Canucks Scrabble Battle

I Watched This [Scrabble] Game: Team Mooney vs. Team Glass, February 23, 2011

What an incredible experience. Our thanks goes out to Tanner Glass, Derek Jory, Canuck Place, Hasbro Canada, Annie May, and the Canucks organization for helping to make this all happen. Harrison and I are amazed at how our silly little Scrabble challenge turned into an opportunity to raise an estimated $8000 for Canuck Place. We are humbled by the outpouring of support for this little event: thank you.

We got to Canuck Place a little early and met up with our videographer/photographer, Roderick, who agreed to help us out last minute. Roderick was amazing and we're looking forward to sharing the video we're putting together with him. Keep an eye on Canucks.com, however, for the official video of the event. Jeff Vinnick was also on hand and took some amazing photos, while Ed Willes provided comments from the peanut gallery and an excellent article for the Province. I moved into the corner and set up Live Blog Central, which hovered around 200 followers from beginning to end, and had just over 800 readers in total.

In the end, Harrison was victorious, though Tanner and his crew of awesome kids mounted an incredible comeback: the Highlight of the Night was definitely "menswear," though the TSN Turning Point was Harrison's Bingo with "doughier," using two blanks and a triple word score. But I didn't watch the highlights. I watched this game.

• Tanner Glass is a large dude. I understand he's 6'1", 210 lbs, but when you see him on TV on the ice with other players of similar size it doesn't have the same impact. When he walks into a room that has tables meant to be used by children, however, he is massive. It's a good thing it wasn't Scrabble Boxing, or Harrison would have been in real trouble.

• In all seriousness, Tanner was very friendly, even though it was clear he didn't know what to expect from us. I have to give him a lot of credit for accepting the challenge and putting himself out there to benefit the kids at Canuck Place. I suspect he's getting a fair amount of razzing from his teammates and, possibly, opponents. I wonder if that's part of the smack talk on the ice now when someone challenges him: are you sure you want to get in a fight? I might make you forget all the Q without U words.

• Tanner was asked about his educational background helping him out in Scrabble, and he quipped "There's no Scrabble course at Dartmouth. It's no Harvard, that's for sure." Classic.

• Meanwhile, a young lady surreptitiously stood behind Tanner for most of the game with her cell phone out, tweeting Tanner's tiles as @VanCanucks and getting advice from those following the game. The biggest celebrity guest star on the night was @BrentButt, who suggested "inuit." Unfortunately, "inuit" is a proper noun and is ineligible in Scrabble. Instead, Tanner played "dint" for 25 points, completing three other words in the process. I think Tanner could beat Brent Butt at Scrabble. Just saying.

• Some have pointed out that Harrison got some incredible luck with the tiles he drew, getting high-powered letters like X, Q, Z, and J as well as both blanks. It's important to realize, however, that he made the high-risk move to trade in his tiles early on, keeping only the J. It was in that round that he drew both blanks that led to his bingo with "doughier" as well as the Z. It was a calculated risk that paid off.

• Aaron Rome is labelled in the pre-game video as the "Forgotten Scrabbler." He and I should get together and play a game. We forgotten Scrabblers need to stick together.

• True to Aaron Rome's prediction, Tanner played a grinding game, clawing his way back with three and four-letter words and playing a strong defensive game by locking down the triple-word scores as soon as they opened up. He also used some good teamwork by getting advice from the kids, including his best play of the game with "menswear." Jaxson was the brain behind that play and he was beaming. His play in the Scrabble game illustrates why Glass has made himself a staple on the Canucks fourth line: he keeps it simple, plays hard, and is a good teammate.

• Jannik Hansen's smack talk in the pre-game tips video is absolutely hilarious. He claims that Tanner is the third or fourth best Scrabbler on the team and that the North Americans do their best to avoid being beaten by the Europeans, for whom english is a second language. It's clear that Hansen isn't just a dogged competitor on the ice. I wonder if he's ever been able to spell pokecheck in a game?

• My favorite moment in that video, however, comes when Burrows sees the Scrabble Champ t-shirt and Tanner walks behind him, commenting "sick, eh?" then continues on. Major props to Annie May for the design and I love the fact that Tanner is a big fan of the shirts.

• Speaking of the t-shirts, they sold so quickly that Tanner wasn't even able to get one in the right size for his fiancée, Emily. She wore it anyways, supporting Glass the whole way. Harrison and I stopped by the Canucks Team Store after the Scrabble Battle and picked up a couple shirts for family members; there were only 2 shirts remaining after we left. We're hopeful that they will decide to do another run of the shirts in the future; they might be encouraged to do so if people who wanted shirts sent a friendly note to them...

• Thanks to everyone who joined in on the live blog. Some of the jokes and comments were shared with Tanner and Harrison. "Booing the refs" got big laughs and a few groans from everyone, and "We all know a 55-point lead is the most dangerous lead in Scrabble" got a good reaction as well. Kudos to deb and Ione for the wisecracks. I also appreciated Barbara Aucoin dropping by to suggest that I should play her son at Scrabble. Since Adrian Aucoin has clearly retired from the NHL and definitely doesn't play hockey any more, I suspect he spends most of his free time Scrabbling. I'm really not sure if I'm good enough at Scrabble to take him on.

• Final score of the game was 344 - 313 for Harrison. According to the Scrabble website, an average tournament score is 330 - 450 points per game, so an impressive showing for both Mooney and Glass, neither of whom are Scrabble experts (Andy Sutton really wanted to know). Harrison, of course, talks a big game and he definitely is good at Scrabble, but he's not the "Scrabble pro" that he was played up to be. Tanner, on the other hand, was better than we expected as he had downplayed his skill prior to the game. Admittedly, he got a little help from the Canuck Place kids, but he played a solid game. You can see the final board at Canucks.com/scrabble.

• Finally, the presence of an actual trophy and the phenomenal success in raising money for Canucks Place has whet our appetites to do this again. My hope is that we can get more people involved and have a Celebrity Scrabble Tournament next year, involving Canuck players, other local celebrities, and members of the community. Obviously, this is just an idea at this point, but only a few months ago, playing Tanner Glass at Scrabble was also just an idea.

Quick Hits (From Behind): Scrabble Edition

Quick Hits (From Behind) is an irregular feature on Pass it To Bulis, wherein two hockey fans chip in their thoughts on current hockey news and get assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

With the inaugural Scrabble Battle now in the books, and the surreal fog of yesterday's visit to Canuck Place now worn off (aided by the fact I overslept for work this morning), it seems the only thing left to do is file and alphabetize the memories.

PITB will have a full write-up with photos and video with all our thoughts and observations on the event sometime next week (and Skeeter is furiously preparing an IWTG) but, for now, we'll leave things in the hands of the capable writers at the Vancouver Province, Vancouver Sun, and Canucks.com. After the jump, a special Scrabble edition of the Quick Hits (From Behind):

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• Canucks' Tanner Glass Rises to Scrabble Challenge -- Ed Willes, the Province

Ed Willes was in the room for the whole event, occasionally chiming in with amusing remarks or tallying up the score faster than I could. He claims he comes from a Scrabble family, but even he seemed downright impressed to learn that "doughy" had a comparative form. I think I could take him. Anyhow, Willes's article is today's must-read. And, if for some reason, the Internet's not your cuppa tea, you can find this piece on the front page of the Province. Good thing there's no news today.

“Basically, the plan was to challenge him, then make fun of him when he turned us down,” said Mooney, one of the founders of the Pass it to Bulis website and the driving force behind the event.

He ruined the joke. But created something worthwhile in its place.

Wednesday at Canuck Place, Glass, the Canucks’ irrepressible fourth-line winger, faced off against Mooney in the first-ever Canucks’ Scrabble Battle and, friends, if that picture doesn’t get your adrenaline flowing, there’s something wrong.

OK, in all honesty, it doesn’t seem like two-man Scrabble will catch on as a spectator event, but if the action was less than riveting, it succeeded in raising $8,000 for the charity.

Less than riveting? Tanner spelled MENSWEAR! That's insane. From where I'm sitting, Scrabble is far more entertaining than poker. Mind you, where I'm sitting, at least in the photo below, is across from Tanner Glass, playing Scrabble. That is to say, I'm biased; it's pretty entertaining from there.

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• Friendly War of Words -- Derek Jory, Canucks.com

Awesome Canucks.com writer Derek Jory was also there, and his article takes you through some of the moves in a little more depth.

In the Game’s Room at Canuck Place, Glass and Mooney sat opposite each other for 45 minutes, sweat trickling down their foreheads, deadlocked in the friendliest war of words around.

It started with Glass making the first move, the benefactor of having earned more pledges than Mooney by a count of $2,435 to $1,565, and maneuvering his way through letters BAIOWRE, he played WEAR for 14 points. And they were off to the races.

It was difficult to predict how this game would unfold being there live – would it be like watching paint dry or was drama in the tiles – but before anyone had time to digest the first move and wait around for a second, Mooney replied with WAITER, playing down off the w from wear, for 18 points.

If you're wondering, the BAIOWRE is also the name of the Scott Baio fan club I belonged to as a child. But you can't play proper nouns anyway.

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• Canucks Scrabble Photo Gallery

Make sure you check out all the photos in the Canucks Scrabble photo gallery, all of which manage to capture my good side, except for below. If you're wondering, my best angles are the back of my head and not pictured.

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• Canucks' Scrabble Battle With Glass No Pushover For Local Blogger -- Ian Walker, Puckworld

And finally, Ian Walker decides to take the antagonistic route, needling me for winning by such a narrow margin.

For a guy talking a heck of a lot of smack going into the Scrabble Battle, blogger Harrison Mooney of should consider himself lucky. Mooney defeated Tanner Glass 344-314 at the inaugural event at Canucks Place. If not for two blank chips used to form the word 'doughier,' which resulted in a score of 76 points, it could well have been a different story.

“I thought he was going to be a lot better than he was,” said Glass.

To Ian, I say, a win is a win, Walker. Additionally, Harrison Mooney does not take kindly to people pointing out the gross exaggeration of his boasting. This calls for a vendetta.

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The Inaugural Scrabble Battle Live Blog Extravaganza

Welcome to the Inaugural Scrabble Battle Live Blog Extravaganza, the ultimate Scrabble showdown between Vancouver Canucks' winger Tanner Glass and PITB co-founder Harrison Mooney. By now, you probably know that the game is for charity, with all proceeds benefitting the Canucks For Kids Fund. It's not too late to donate. I'm your host, Daniel "Skeeter" Wagner, PITB's other co-founder, and I'll be live at this game's top-secret location (in a bunker off the coast of Yemen*), hanging on every tile. Watch the virtual board at Canucks.com/Scrabble and join the discussion below. Try to be hilarious. We go live at 3pm PST.

*It's an underwater bunker.

Alex Burrows is on Team Mooney

The Inaugural Canucks Scrabble Battle takes place at 3pm tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, and I would urge you, once again, to donate to the Canucks For Kids Fund on behalf of either Team Glass or Team Mooney. If you recall, the side that receives the most pledges will also receive the vital first play, and I want it. Heck, I might need it. As of yesterday, the totals, (courtesy of Canucks.com writer Derek Jory over at Fort Nucks), had Team Glass $30 out in front, but who knows how close things are now, especially when Jory himself threw his weight (and wallet) behind Team Glass? I thought maybe the writer's bond would be enough to draw Jory to my corner, but it appears that mullets are thicker are water.

But don't fret, Team Mooney acolytes. There is, yet, vocal support from within the Canucks organization, and it comes from an unlikely source. Tanner Glass's teammate, Alex Burrows. Here's Hosea Cheung, of Vancouver 24 Hours (p. 20):

When asked if Glass stood a chance, Alex Burrows immediately said no, adding his teammate was known to brag about his Scrabble skills. “That’s what he asked his fiancée for Christmas, a little Scrabble dictionary,” he said. “I don’t know how a Saskatchewan guy, not that smart, is going to do against a Scrabble pro.”

Burn. That said, Alex Burrows claiming Tanner Glass isn't very good at making words is like the pot calling the kettle unintelligible. But who am I to quibble? Ring it up, Burrows is a Bulie, although he should know I'm far from a Scrabble pro (unless you count playing Scrabble at work professional Scrabbling... just kidding, boss).

On the flipside, Cory Schneider is toeing the party line:

Goaltender Cory Schneider, however, was more diplomatic in support of Glass. “Those Dartmouth kids fall asleep with [a dictionary] under their pillow, they soak up the words while they sleep.

Funny guy, that Schneider. But let it be known Dartmouth alums, eggheads through they may be, can be beaten. Just ask Paul Bissonnette. Biznasty:

Ask lee stempniak how biznasty beat him in scrabble and he went to dartmouth

Ack, that's embarrassing. Skeeter beat me once, too, and he brings it up every time we hang out. That said, the bigger revelation here is that BizNasty scrabbles. Maybe PITB should be challenging him next. Scrabble for the homeless? Someone call the Phoenix Coyotes.

Make sure you're online at 3pm. Skeeter, my blogwife, will be liveblogging the Scrabble match right here at Pass it to Bulis; you can follow the virtual game board at Canucks.com/Scrabble; and I'm sure @VanCanucks and @PassItToBulis will be tweeting plenty of goodies. As for me, I'm off to study my playable three-letter words.

Tanner Glass Thinks We're Witty, But We're Onto Him

So Tanner Glass thinks we're witty. He's right, too. We're the Oscar Wilde of Canucks blogs*. All over the blogosphere, people talk of our biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation. Anyway, here's Tanner, talking about our impending Scrabble Battle (the Battle at Helm's Deep of athlete versus blogger board game battles) in his latest blog for Canucks.com:

Also coming up in the next two weeks will be the much-anticipated Scrabble Challenge against the guys from Pass It To Bulis. I’ve been trying to practice here and there, but to be honest, I’m most looking forward to raising money for the Canucks for Kids Fund. T-shirts will be available soon, so keep your eyes peeled. I’ll make sure to give another update after the event to make sure you guys don’t just get the Pass It To Bulis point of view with their witty banter. Wish me luck!

Wish me luck, he says. Ha! Forget that noise. Wish me luck (#TeamMooney)! It's time I came right out and said it. Too many of you are smitten with Tanner because of his underdog status. Everybody's on #TeamGlass. Friends, family, and Bulies can't help but love him.

I say Tanner's goodness is a brilliant ploy. He sounds like the nicest guy in the world. You think he's that nice naturally? I say bah. With a bevy of media people telling me how to behave, I'd seem good too. Instead, I'm the monomaniacal nerd everyone wants to fail. It's all marketing!** I mean, come on. Listen to him, coyly trying to make it seem as though he's not practicing day and night. I see through Tanner's strategy. He's playing possum. Know how I know? Photographic evidence. Know how else I know? Steven Turnbull. There's a conspiracy here. I'm about to blow your mind.

You'll recall, in Derek Jory's article, a lengthy section detailing the importance of the first move, as per Steven Turnbull, Scrabble genius/Facebook addict and mayor of Lashburn, Saskatchewan. I found this entire section suspicious. Why is Turnbull so available for a quote? How come he never returns my calls? Then I realized: Tanner Glass is from Saskatchewan. Glass and Turnbull are in cahoots. Heck, Turnbull might even be tutoring Glass nightly. The Canucks probably fly him into Vancouver every evening on the team jet. I mean, he's definitely got the time. He's the mayor of a city, and he admits to playing 100 games of Scrabble on Facebook a day. Do the Lashburn voters know what their elected official is doing?

I do, gosh darn it. He's teaching Glass everything he knows. He's the Pai Mei to Tanner's Beatrix Kiddo, the Master Roshi to Tanner Glass's young Goku. Soon, Glass will have a Scrabbling level of over 9000, and he has the audacity to say we're witty, hoping that flattery will disguise his diabolical strategies. Well, Tanner, we aren't just witty; we're wise to you.

Mind you, being wise to something does not equal being able to prevent something. I'm probably screwed.

I cannot stress the importance of that first move. Please (please! please!) donate on my behalf. Also, go buy shirts. The Canucks only printed 150, and if you want them to print more, this first shipment's gonna have to sell out in a hurry. Let's keep them stocked in the team store for awhile. They look really good there.


*We have nothing else in common with Oscar Wilde.
**I once tried to use this excuse to get out of vacuuming, but my wife would have none of it.

Going to a Game, Plus Other Reasons to Be Excited

I'll be at the February 19 matchup between the Canucks and Stars. I am pumped.

Being a writer on an evidently popular Canucks blog (unless you are all my family with increasingly complicated pseudonyms), you would think that I frequently attend Canucks games in person. Such is not the case: I have actually only been to one Canucks game in my entire life. The issue is that Canucks tickets cost money, which I have only infrequently*. I grew up going to Chilliwack Chiefs games with my grandpa and I catch an occasional Chilliwack Bruins, Abbotsford Heat or Aldergrove Kodiaks game, but going to a Canucks game is a special treat. Until the Canucks start handing out press passes to blogs, going to a game will be a rare event.

This Saturday, however, my wife and I will be in Vancouver with my brother and his wife to watch the Canucks take on the Stars. The tickets were a Christmas present from my dad, who is awesome**. Massive understatement: I'm excited. For those who frequently step into the confines of GM Place Rogers Arena, it may be a bit more routine, but for me this is huge. I'm also fairly confident about the Canucks' chances: they have outscored the Stars 15-3 in their 3 meetings this season. Even with a battered defense, I've got a good feeling.

To make things even better, that's not the end of it: this Saturday ignites a fuse of awesome Canuck-ness set to explode when Harrison, myself, and our wives pack our bags for The Greatest Road Trip of All Time (TM). It starts with the game against the Stars, continues with Harrison's much-ballyhooed Scrabble Battle against Tanner Glass (which I will be attending and intend to live-blog for everyone's enjoyment), continues with the Canucks Superskills on the 27th, and climaxes with the road trip. It shall be glorious.

What can I say? I'm a fan. Look for stories, pictures, and other goodies in the coming weeks.

* Speaking of, we need to start making some money with this blog. Any ideas?

** Now that it has been stated on the internet, it is set in stone and cemented as fact.

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Battle Is On

How did he get a shirt? We don't even have one yet.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Tanner Glass Scrabble challenge is officially a go. If you'll recall, back in November, we issued an open challenge to the Canucks' grinder, calling him out and questioning his Scrabbling abilities (which, rumour has it, are questionable). Two weeks later, shockingly, Tanner Glass accepted. Also, there were t-shirts. We promised to update everyone in the new year.

Well, here's your update: Tanner, the Canucks, and PITB have come together, and the Scrabble Battle will go down Wednesday, February 23, at 3pm. We're stoked. Here's Derek Jory of Canucks.com with the details:

Whether Harrison Mooney, half the manpower behind PassItToBulis.com, was serious or not when he posted an open Scrabble challenge to Tanner Glass after hearing the Vancouver Canucks forward reveal he is an avid player on road trips on the Team 1040, Glass has accepted and the stage is now set for the first ever Scrabble Battle.

The inaugural Scrabble Battle will pit Glass and Mooney in a one-hour showdown of everyone’s favourite word game on Wednesday, February 23rd at 3 p.m. PST; fans can follow each player’s moves as they happen on Canucks.com/scrabble via the virtual game board and by following @VanCanucks on Twitter.

The goal of the Scrabble Battle is to raise as much money as possible for Canucks for Kids Fund. All proceeds from the t-shirts go directly to Canucks for Kids Fund, (CFKF) which has reached communities throughout BC by granting more than 32 million dollars benefiting areas of health and wellness, grassroots hockey and education since 1986.

If you want to show your support for either Team Glass or Team Mooney, pledges are also being accepted with all funds generated again supporting CFKF. The hook here is that the player who raises the most money by the morning of the 23rd will get to play first during the Scrabble Battle.

And that's that.

The best thing ever? In the header photo, Tanner is mimicking his pose on the shirt while wearing the shirt. It's very meta. It's like the Inception, but with shirts.

Here's the deal, Bulies: please, please, for the love of all that is good, go donate money on my behalf. I want that first move and I need all the help I can get. I'm not sure if you know this, but Tanner Glass has some wealthy friends. This one Italian guy he knows is making 10 million this year. This other Italian guy he knows pays the first Italian's guy salary. Suffice it to say, I'm in tough.

But so help me if Glass gets that first play. I could wind up playing from behind all game, and that's unacceptable. And so help me if I lose. If that happens, I'm retiring from blogging forever. Disclaimer: no I'm not.

Anyway, #TeamMooney.

Tanner Glass Is a Practicer

Another gem from Jeff Vinnick's great Behind the Lens series. Looks like Tanner's spelling GAVEL.

Just in case you thought that everybody had forgotten about the Scrabble Me Tanner challenge, here's where we currently stand: a date for the match is impending, but has not yet been set. The plan was to revisit things in the new year, but, if you'll recall, the Canucks played about 812 games in January, so there hasn't really been much time to think about anything unrelated to hockey.

For the clamorers: the shirts are on the way as well. The Canucks are helping us out with them a little, so we've had to go through all the proper channels, and there will be a few minor additions to their design (A possible Canuck Place logo on the sleeve, for instance). As you can see, from the picture above, nobody's forgotten about this story. I'm still mentally preparing myself to get punched in the nose when I play my third bingo in a row and deciding which media member to invite (thanks for the roses, Ian). Tanner Glass, fierce competitor that he is, is getting his practice on whenever possible, as seen above. Everybody remains excited, and we'll continue to keep you posted on the goings-on as they go on.

Awesome Signage: Glass Fights Bears

Now seems like a good time to let everyone know that we love PITB-related signage here at Pass it to Bulis. Solemn vow: we will always feature it on this blog. This sign, prominently flaunted at Madison Square Garden on Thursday Night, is totally awesome. Additional points for getting the values correct on those Scrabble tiles. Poor Tanner Glass. Our favourite bear-fighting, Scrabble-playing mullet man is going to have one of the strangest reputations in the league when all is said and done.

And if that sign doesn't tickle your fancy, how about this sign?

This sign is really great for two reasons: 1) it's free advertising and 2) it is either the best inside joke ever or indicative of being completely out of touch with the Canucks' current roster. This is a good sign idea. More people should do this sign.

Both signs are awesome, and I can safely say that Steven and Shantini, the couple behind these signs, are equally awesome.

I Find This Photo Awesome: Tanner Glass Signing A Scrabble Board

Here's your New Year Eve's dose of awesomeness. Look closely at this photo and you'll see that Canucks fan Elson (@awesomeguyelson) brought a Scrabble board--cleverly done up like the Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champ t-shirt--to a Tanner Glass signing appearance. Needless to say, I find this photo awesome.

Tanner Glass is such a cool guy. He's been such a great sport about all this, and seems as genuinely shocked by the attention and interest as we are. I don't know how many Tanner Glass jerseys sell at the Canucks team store, but I can confidently say I'll be buying one someday soon.

Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champ t-shirts will be on sale early in the new year with all proceeds going to Canucks Place Children's Hospice.

Thanks to our pal Katie Maximick (@canucksgirl44) for the tip.

Tanner Glass Has a Very Scrabbly Christmas

The latest blog post from Tanner Glass went up today on Canucks.com. In it he talks Christmas, roadtrips, weddings, and Dartmouth. But since we at Pass it to Bulis are incredibly self-interested, this was my favorite part:

We also snuck in a few games of scrabble thanks to my sister who got me the board game. Scrabble seemed to be the theme in my presents as Emily also bought me the book, “How to Play Scrabble Like a Champion.” I’m taking that as a hint that my family doesn’t want me to embarrass myself in the challenge I have coming up.

Tanner's sister, of course, is one of the main reasons this Scrabble challenge is happening as she got in touch with us and helped convince Tanner to accept. It's awesome how his family has gotten involved and I suspect he's been the target of plenty of good-natured jokes about the whole situation. Personally, I have to admit to being a little worried. While Harrison is a dedicated Scrabble-junkie, I am merely okay at the game. Don't get me wrong, I've beaten Harrison before...once. And now Tanner is in training. I think I'm in trouble.

I may need to go with Plan B: sell my services to the highest bidder. For a fee, I am willing to strategically open up triple-word scores or shutdown the board to prevent either Harrison or Tanner from netting big points. While it may seem that Harrison has an advantage by being my best friend, I'm pretty sure Tanner has a bigger yearly salary and could pretty easily outbid him.

Also, Tanner revealed that he and his family played some "intense games of catch phrase" over the two-day holiday break. He better be careful about mentioning board games before Nucks Misconduct or Canucks Hockey Blog starts a #CatchPhraseMeTanner hashtag on Twitter.

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge Lands on HNIC

In case you missed it, here's the Subway Bio from tonight's Hockey Night in Canada telecast, which focused on Tanner Glass and PITB's Scrabble challenge. Very cool.

If you're still in the dark about this whole thing, here's the summary: we issued an open challenge to play a game of Scrabble with Tanner Glass. One of our readers (the unsinkable Annie May) made a t-shirt. Glass saw the t-shirt; he accepted the challenge. Now it's news--big news at that. The way this story continues to spread baffles us each time we think about it.

Many, many thanks to the invaluable CanucksHD for providing us with this clip. You sir, are 1000 shades of grand.

Other Board Games With Canucks

For this morning's poll question on the Team 1040, Scotty and the Moj drew from the Tanner Glass Scrabble challenge and its subsequent media coverage, asking Canuck fans what board game you would like to play with a Canuck. I figure, since I'm the progenitor of this line of questioning (and of course, my answer is always Scrabble), I figured I'd weigh in.

Some people have pointed out that Sami Salo would be an appropriate opponent for a game of Operation. Probably. He'd likely be a natural, especially with his extensive experience in strange medical anomalies. He might even sympathize with the guy with a buzzer for a nose: they're probably the only two people alive who could find a way to choke on a whole apple. And as a bonus, you'd probably win when Salo shatters his tibia trying to extract the water pail from the little guy's knee.

But I'd be more interested in playing Kerplunk with Keith Ballard. Why? It's a guaranteed win for me. Kerplunk is a game of picking up sticks--sticks which require a delicate and measured touch. History indicates Ballard does not know how to handle sticks this way.

Here are a few other possibilities:

• Mikael Samuelsson's inability to censor himself would make him a pretty easy opponent in Taboo. But it would be awfully easy to get him to say Sweden. You: They can go eff themselves.

• The perfectly unnoticeable Aaron Rome would do well in games that obscure people, such as Stratego or Guess Who.
  

• Alex Burrows must be an expert at Mad Gab. I don't think he realizes it, but he's always playing it. But he'd be terrible at Password. You couldn't figure out the basic word he was saying, let alone the one he was trying to imply.

• I wouldn't play the Sedins in Password, though. Or Pictionary. Or Charades. Or Cranium. Or any other team game in which telepathy is an unfair advantage.

• Mason Raymond would rock you in Dutch Blitz.

• Mike Gillis's machiavellian tendencies would make him an expert for Risk. I heard he once played with Kevin Lowe. Word is Gillis verbally agreed not to attack Brazil from East Africa. But then he did.

The Tanner Glass Scrabble Challenge Goes Mainstream

Up until today, you might have been forgiven for not knowing that Tanner Glass had agreed to play Scrabble with PITB. The challenge had made its way around the Twitterverse and the Blogosphere, but it hadn't yet escaped to a larger audience. If you weren't online, you probably wouldn't have known. But now, the mainstream media's got the story. Now it's news. It's true. Yesterday, both Jason Botchford of The Province and Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun offered up stories on the Tanner Glass Scrabble challenge. Let us examine them together:

• Tanner Glass Taking Scrabble Challenge Seriously -- Jason Botchford, The Province

Botchford was the first to weigh in. In his piece, he recaps what has happened so far, then delivers this delightful bit of reconnaissance: Glass isn't that experienced. So he's doing what any good Dartmouth alum might do--he's studying:

Now, Glass doesn't like to lose much and herein lies the rub. While Mooney has been playing regularly for five years, Glass had only played about 15 times before this year when he started what he calls a heated word rivalry with Aaron Rome, on the road.

"I played very little before this year," Glass said. "I played a bit in Rochester with this kid Pete Aston, he was good, and his girlfriend, they were both really good. Never played (as a kid). I'm no Scrabble whiz by any means."

What does he do about it?

"I've been researching a lot," he said. "Words that are seven letters or less."

I think the big scoop here is that I overestimated Glass's Scrabbling experience, but don't think that means I'll be taking him lightly. According to Botchford, he still hates to lose, and that's gotta count for something. Plus, he's a fourth-line winger: if he can't finesse me, he might wear me down with physical play. I should wear shin pads in case he tries to kick me under the table.

Anyway, for chuckles, I recommend checking out the unique comments on Botchford's article. They're all over the place. Some are supportive of me ("Mooney will crush him... He is so smart it's not even funny"); some are skeptical of me and supportive of Glass ("quite frankly, how smart can a guy be who blogs about a sports team? GO GLASS"); some are hilariously spiteful ("kudos to glass for not backing down to these clowns"); and some are just hilarious ("Tanner should call that bookworm Kyle Wellwood to get all smart and stuff").

The instances of vitriol surprised me. I'm interested in the allegiance some Canucks fans have to their players--an allegiance that makes them view any challenger, even one as innocuous as a Scrabble opponent--as pure evil. Thanks to this sociological trend, some people have decided I'm some sort of monomaniacal nerd in need of a good smackdown.

• Canucks' Tanner Glass Willing to Take on Scrabble Babble -- Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun

Ian Walker (who is very cool) didn't help to dispel it either. Walker's article treads similar ground to Botchford, bringing the reader up to speed, and explaining Glass's limited experience as a Scrabbler, but it's a very different article, especially because Walker interviewed me. He also closes one major mystery: up until now, I was uncertain who it was that finally convinced Glass to play us. It turns out it was his sister, with whom we connected through Twitter not too long ago:

One thing led to another and … Glass's sister soon got involved.

“She saw it on Twitter and I guess the Pass it to Bulis guys and her got to talking online so she called me up asking if I was interested,” said the affable Glass, 27. “It's amazing in this day and age. You can't say anything without someone getting wind of it. It really is the world wide web.”

Let's just establish upfront that Glass's super-nice sister found us, we didn't go looking for her. PITB would never invade a player's personal life like that.

Anyhow, Walker's article goes a little more in-depth into who PITB is, and also delivers the half-truth that I play a game of online Scrabble every day. Only on average. I play online a couple times of week, but when I do play, it's usually four or five speed games in a row. I still play much, much more than Glass, and it will probably be apparent. Walker:

Glass, on the other hand, can count on his fingers and toes how many times he's played the game before this season — and then he would still have digits left over to wiggle his little piggies and scratch his nose.

“He doesn't have a chance,” boasted Mooney, who is one major paper away from receiving a Masters in English. “I lose friends because I'm so good. I may not be a stickler for rules — he can use the three-letter variety — but I'm going to crush him.”

This is funny stuff. While I admit these are real quotes, I was chuckling as I said them. Unfortunately, they do nothing to dispel the notion that I'm some sort of monomaniacal nerd--the black Artie Ziff.

One other thing to add here: the quote about the three-letter words is a bit off. What I meant was that I probably won't be a jerk and play an overly technical game, full of three-letter words I know are legal but could never hope to define (like CWM, or RHO). That would be dickish.

That said, here's a quick tip for people trying to expand their word list, like Tanner. Most bingos (words that use all the tiles in your rack) also include one tile already on the board, so they're actually eight-letter words. You could never know all the words in the English language that are eight letters or less. Instead, just memorize all the words you can spell with the letters in LATRINE and one additional letter. These letters are the most common seven in the game.

Better yet, forget about the big words, and memorize the much shorter list of legal two and three-letter words. The more consistent points are in small, rare words. For example: RAT is worth three points on its own. CWM, on the other hand, is worth 10. When you play serious Scrabblers, they beat you with little words, not big ones. In that respect, they play a bit like the Montreal Canadiens.

Anyhow. Thanks to Jason Botchford and Ian Walker for taking an interest in our Scrabble game, and thanks again to everyone who's helped turn this from a little thing to a big thing. We'll keep you posted.

Tanner Glass Responds to Our Scrabble Challenge

In case you're new to PITB, let us catch you up to speed. Some time ago, I heard a Tanner Glass interview on the Team 1040 and learned that he loves him some Scrabble. A massive Scrabble fan myself, I couldn't help but issue an open challenge to the Canucks winger.

Some time after that, PITB was blessed with the incredible t-shirt design by an artistically gifted Bulie named Annie. And boy, is she gifted. Check out her Tanner Glass villanelle in the comments of this post. The shirt got our challenge noticed, and was featured at Fort Nucks. We got word from a few sources that Tanner loved it, wanted one, and might actually accept the challenge.

We just got word today this is indeed the case from Tanner himself. He discusses the challenge in his latest blog.

Life on the road is as crazy as it sounds – moving from city to city every couple of days - but there are a few good things about it.

For one, we go to a lot of cities with great shopping, which can be really helpful around the holidays.

And two, I have a pretty intense Scrabble battle every road trip with Aaron Rome. We’re not the best, but our series is pretty even. I’ve been practicing so we’ll see what happens next trip.

Apparently the word is out that I’m a Scrabble fan and I’ve actually had a few challengers. As of right now, I don’t have the time to take anyone up on their challenges, but after the new year, I’ll probably play a game with passittobulis, one of the bloggers that has taken it as far as to make shirts that are pretty sweet. Maybe we can sell some of those shirts and donate the proceeds to Canuck Place Hospice.

That is awesome. Thank you, Tanner, for getting back to us. We totally understand that the holidays are much too busy a season for sit-down word games with bloggers. So the new year it is. We look forward to a Scrabble battle so intense you'll think you're on the team plane.

As for the rest of you, you heard it here first. Tanner Glass has accepted our Scrabble challenge. We are pumped. We thoroughly appreciate everyone who helped us get word to him, and we'll keep everyone posted as we work out the details. We're talking to screen printers about getting the shirts ready for sale, and we will definitely be donating a portion of the proceeds to Canuck Place. This should be fun.

For the latest updates, follow us on twitter.

Tanner Glass: Scrabble Champion Apparel is the New Hotness

I've heard a lot of talk today about what the problem with the Canucks is, but here's what it boils down to: they're playing badly. In nearly every facet. That is my analysis. Here's my prediction: it won't last and they'll get some traction again soon. Keep in mind that they won eight of nine before losing four in a row. Neither streak was indicative of their overall skill level.

But that's not why I'm posting. I'm posting because reader @plusfelonesse, one of our favourite Bulies, has designed the above image for potential t-shirts and the Tanner Glass Open Scrabble Challenge. I just wanted to share it with you. Let me just say that it's downright exciting to have such a cool readership. We've only been doing this since April, but the community we're seeing develop is really, really exciting. Here's hoping it only gets better. We'll keep writing as long as you keep reading.

Question: if we got some of these shirts made up, would you pay money for one?

An Open Challenge to Tanner Glass, and Other NHL Scrabblers

Last week, in an interview on the Team 1040, Canucks winger Tanner Glass disclosed that he and teammate Aaron Rome often play Scrabble on team flights. This stunning revelation immediately grabbed me. Unfortunately, nobody else cared. Scrabble is a niche game. Either you love it, or you hate it, and to love it, you have to be a wordplay sort of guy. Guys like this are few and far between, namely because they die young, their survival skills sorely lacking.

I am that sort of guy. I love Scrabble. In fact, I hereby issue an open challenge to Tanner Glass: let's scrabble. You and me, pal. I will throw down on you like you're a triple-word score. Your scrabble is wack. My scrabble is the radness. You think you can handle my scrabble? Then scrabble me, Tanner.

And now we wait. In the meantime, I did some research and asked around, looking for other NHL personalities who dabble in the scrabble. Coming up, 20 NHL personalities who have a weakness for the world's greatest crossword-building game.

1. Alex Burrows scrabbles, but often complains that, because English is his second language, he's at a disadvantage. Teammates say, though they usually allow him to make words in English and French, he never makes any sense in either. Another source claimed Alex Burrows spells words with way more O's than they need.
2. Ilya Kovalchuk scrabbles. Even when he can't make a move, he won't pass.
3. Brian Burke scrabbles, but a source claims he only wins games by adding suffixes onto other people's words, and that he can't build a decent word from scratch. He has a tendency to save his tiles for big words like tenacity and pugnacious. Worse, he once traded both blank tiles for a Q, a letter that gets a lot of points, but needs complementary letters or it's useless.
4. Marc Savard scrabbles, but he has a reputation for trying to pass off completely made-up words. An anonymous source within the league called him "a little fake artist."
5. Matt Cooke scrabbles, but he only spells words like poop, and butt, and boob. He has a reputation as a dirty player.
6. Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher scrabbles. An anonymous junior coach said he plays too defensively by clogging up the board, and ruins the fun of it.
7. Darryl Sutter scrabbles, but he doesn't manage his tiles very well. Inexplicably, he often changes them for weaker ones and he never quite seems to know what letters he needs.
8. Wayne Gretzky scrabbles, but he doesn't seem to know what he's doing and he never seems to have a plan. Word has it he's better at table hockey. A former player said he once quit in the middle of a scrabble game, and the guy that came in to replace him turned things around in a hurry.
9. Chris Pronger scrabbles, but nobody likes to play him because he has a reputation for stealing your tiles right off your rack. And stomping on your leg if he loses.
10. Charles Wang scrabbles, and when he gets a letter he likes, he locks it up for fifteen years.
11. Colin Campbell scrabbles, but he refuses to play Sorry.
12. Patrick Kane scrabbles so often he might have a serious problem. While celebrating his Stanley Cup win, Deadspin once called him "more Scrabble than man," but the headline was changed to something else just to make him sound cooler.
13. Don Cherry scrabbles. He'd be really good if he didn't have a tendency to invert important letters in every word.
14. The Sedins scrabble, but only together, and they spend the whole game setting each other up for double-word scores.
15. Derek Boogaard scrabbles, or at least he thinks it's scrabble. He spends the whole game punching the board, and most people refuse to play him.
16. Mark Messier scrabbles, and some say he's one of the best to play the game. But I spoke to the Vancouver Scrabble Club, and they claim he was the worst player they ever had.
17. George Parros scrabbles. He's amazing at it.
18. Sean Avery scrabbles, but former opponents claim he spends most of the game waving a ruler in their faces to distract them.
19. Sami Salo used to scrabble, but he once tore his MCL digging into the velvet bag. Team doctors have asked him to avoid board games altogether.
20. Glen Sather scrabbles. People close to him say he stocks up on high-scoring consonants and spends little time surrounding them with vowels.